I have the Rays slipping to third place after winning the division last year. I think the Red Sox have improved enough with the signings of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford that they will win the division. The Yankees will be major players as usual, but I’m not sure how much I trust their starting rotation. I have the Orioles climbing out of the cellar thanks to their overhauled line up.

The AL Central was really a toss up for me between the White Sox, Twins, and Tigers. I really feel that any of those teams could capture those divisions. The Royals and Indians will bring up the rear of the division, as usual.

How can anyone compete with the Phillies’ starting rotation? Losing Chase Utley for half of the year will hurt a bit, but not enough to cost the Phillies a division title. The Braves will be strong again and finish second. I also think this may be the year that the Nationals climb out of the basement of the division, overtaking the hapless Mets.

The Reds basically have the same team as last year, so I expect them duke it out with the Brewers for the top spot. I am sick of the Cardinals, and losing Adam Wainwright for the year should darken their playoff hopes – enough for third place. The Cubs are a mess as are the Astros. The Pirates finishing fourth? I’d like to think they can win 74-75 games this year. They were 40-41 at home, and I believe the offense will be improved from the get-go. No Andy LaRoche, Jeff Clement, Akinori Iwamura or Lastings Milledge in the lineup for the first 2-3 months of this year. They’ve been replaced by Pedro Alvarez, Lyle Overbay, Neil Walker, and Jose Tabata, all upgrades.

The Giants are for real. I think they’ll repeat. The Padres’ offense suffered in the offseason, so I think they’ll drop to 4th place. I like to Rockies’ chances with players like Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzski. The Diamondbacks will bring up the rear of the division.

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Good luck this year on the ballhawking! Hopefully your Bucs can put together an entertaining season. That Andrew McCutchen is fun to watch. My Twins will have a tough time repeating as AL Central champs again this year. I would say that the White Sox will be our toughest challenge.

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